To be a dominant athlete in any sport, one must combine play on the field with being both a winner and a leader. For that reason, Tom Brady is the most dominant athlete in professional sports.

The quarterback is the most influential position in the sports world and for more than a decade Brady has been and continues to be the best quarterback in football. It’s worth noting that I don’t like Brady, the New England Patriots or Boston teams in general.

Throughout his career, Brady’s team has consistently won. He holds a remarkable record of 124-35 during the regular season and 16-6 mark in the playoffs, he won three Super Bowls and he competed in two others in 10 seasons as a starter. He holds the record with 18 wins during the 2007 season in what was possibly the greatest single season performance of all time.

Brady is amazing on the field and has improved throughout his career. In 2011, he threw for 5,235 yards and took the second worst defense in football to the Super Bowl. The past three years Brady has averaged over 4,500 yards, 34 touchdowns and only nine interceptions.

Novak Djokovic may be the No. 1 tennis player in the world, but his dominance has been skewed. He may have won seven in a row against Rafael Nadal, but he still lost to Roger Federer. Djokovic only appears to be the best because Nadal continued to dominate Federer throughout their careers. It’s a circle of dominance with Djokovic beating Nadal, Nadal beating Federer and Federer beating Djokovic.

Andrés Iniesta contributes more to Barcelona’s success than Lionel Messi does. He may not appear on the stat sheet, but his passing and space-creating abilities as a midfielder are irreplaceable. Not to mention it was Iniesta who scored the game-winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final while Messi failed to score in the entire tournament.

There is no way that Tom Brady is not the most dominant athlete in professional sports. His combination of performance and winning success is second to none.